They still sell the pro jr. in the store. They are okay. The ones they made in the 1990s were better though (the tweed or blonde tolex ones, as opposed to the black/silver ones). You can still get those for about $250-300, same as the cost of a new one. The blues jr. is okay, but it has a lot of extra stuff built in, costs a bit more, has a reverb that I don't like, and isn't as light/portable. The pro jr. is great, kind of the bastard child of an old champ and an AC-15, 15 watts class A through two EL84s and one 10", PLENTY loud (i use it for gigs regularly though not turbo loud rock stuff) and it can hang without even sweating. Two knobs... volume and an actually useful tone control. All you need in my opinion. When you crank it up you get an enormous distortion tone. It's many engineers' secret weapon... many recordings you've heard where you're like "damn that's one huge sounding Marshall or Soldano," it was actually a pro jr. cranked all the way up.

thanks for you advice I will definitely check out the pro junior in the store.

btw someone is trying to sell me a Fender Hot Rod Deville for around 300-400 dollars Canadian. its 1-2 years old. should I even consider? read some good reviews about the amp, and also so bad ones too.

consider it. Those are very popular amps. The reverb sounds terrible but it's a very versatile amp. If I show up somewhere and that amp is the backline I'm not too disappointed. I just keep the reverb off... they ARE a little 'boxy' and midrangey for my taste. It's almost like they made it artificially 'vintagey' or something... as someone with a few real blackface fenders I'm always skeptical about that. BUT i'm a huge amp snob. The only new Fender amp I like is the pro jr. BUT try out the deville. That's a fair price for a good amp, and if it's your first tube amp, you'll LOVE it. Very popular amp. More versatile and powerful than the pro jr. What styles do you enjoy playing most?

I like to play soft rock and alternative rock. no metal... did you want to recommand another amp? if so that would be great!

one more thing about tube amps. heard a lot of maintenance stuff. if I get a tube amp for practice at home. will I still need to replace the tubes every year? or the frequent maintanence on tubes are directed at people who actually gig everyday?

cause if I am going to replace tubes on my practice amp every year. that can cost a lot. I rather would stick with Solid State (with no maintanence) if thats the case. is tech 21 trademark 30s good amp?

Go with a tube amp. The "maintenence" issue is way overstated. You don't have to change your tubes every year by any means... especially if you're mostly playing at home. Your tubes will work fine for years... If using new production tubes, I'll usually change the power tubes once every 2 years, and I play out (gig) actually about 3-5 times a week. If using NOS (new old stock) or used American made or British made tubes, I NEVER change the tubes unless I can detect a drop in performance. These old tubes last a long time, sound better, and pay for themselves shortly. Preamp tubes should never be replaced unless they are malfunctioning; there is simply no reason to.

Tube amps are not substantially more fragile than solid state. Actually I find them to be more durable (especially vintage types) as they are typically simpler in design and constructed more with the professional in mind. A vintage Fender amp, for instance, is like a chevy... if it breaks down nearly anyone can pop the hood and figure out what's wrong with relative ease. When a tube amp does go down, it's 95% of the time a matter of a bad tube... swapping is easy. With quality tubes this rarely happens, especially if you're not taking the amp around all the time. All my Fender amps (except for the pro jr.) are from the 60s and have been virtually maintenence free since I got them. AND they have all been gigged regularly! A solid state amp, on the other hand, if it goes down... it usually goes WAY down... often to the point where there's no point in the cost of fixing it.

I would look into vintage Ampeg amps if I were you. They're typically still available cheaply, and the 7591 tubes that they use are now being made again by JJ/Tesla, so tube compatibility is no longer a problem. You might think of getting one before the price goes up, as the 7591 issue has been until now the main thing keeping the cost down. You could get an old Jet J-12R for very reasonable $$$ and (while no distortion circuit if you need that) it sounds great... offers a great distortion tone if you turn it up. I like to use an old tube amp and drive the front end with a ZVEX Super Hard-On or other boost pedal as my "distortion channel." Works well!

Try out the Deville, try a pro jr., and keep your eye out for any vintage tube amp that's reasonably priced and give it a try! Only you can know what you need.

The only reason I asked about style was for the purpose of "do you need mondo crunch gain" which it sounds like you do not. Good luck.

Go with a tube amp. A pair of JJ/Tesla EL-84s (as in a pro jr.) every two years will cost you maybe $15.95 at Tube Depot, maybe less elsewhere. Worth it!

the deville went up to 600 dollars canadian... way too high of a bid for me

however I found a 95 Fender pro junior fo 300$ canadian. tolex torned a little at the back. do you think its a good price for a used fender pro junior amp? and the 95 version should be the same as the 90s you were talking about right?

You don't have to replace the tubes. You'll probably be very happy with how it sounds as-is. You can spend from $15-$200 on quality replacement tubes depending on how crazy you want to get. Tubes are like anything else, you can spend as much as you want!

It will probably come with Soviet EL-84s which are okay, it will probably come with chinese 12AX7s, which are IN MY OPINION less than okay. BUT especially if this is one of your first tube amps you won't be unhappy with it as-is! I still have the chinese tubes and the soviet EL84s in mine right now even though I have a pair of NOS Mullard EL84s (very expensive high quality tube) and some NOS RCA 12AX7s. It sounds fine as is and I'm mainly using it as a practice amp (still using the Fender Deluxe for gigs) so I'm saving the good tubes. IF you do want to experiment, I'd start with getting ONE new old stock or quality new 12AX7 (for new tubes, JJ/Tesla or the new Electro Harmonix 12AX7 is actually kinda nice!) and try it in both preamp spots and see which one makes the most difference. One 12AX7 shouldn't be much, less than 20 bucks for sure, probably closer to 10. I buy all my tubes NOS so I don't even know what the market is like on new tubes anymore.

The only thing this amp doesn't have is reverb and a distortion channel, that said, when you turn it up the distortion is AWESOME. If you need to do clean/dirty switching, a good overdrive pedal is the Maxon OD-808, you can get these street price around $100. It's a good combination with the amp, I know because I use them together all the time. I never miss the reverb personally... reverb on the new Fender amps is so crappy anyhow... I've heard the Electro Harmonix Holier Grail is a good reverb pedal, but I'd say don't worry about the reverb. It's funny but the reverb can cover up so much, it can be really painful to hear yourself without the reverb, but in a few months you'll actually start to play better... cleaner with better technique... at least I did once I turned the reverb OFF.

I'd say get the pro jr. and try it out... experiment with it clean and then crank it up to hear that great EL84 overdrive... I'll bet that you'll be a believer. BUT if you find it doesn't work for you, you'll be able to get at least $300 canadian for it! The ones from the 90s are actually starting to appreciate in value a little!

I went to pick up the amp yesterday. it sounds GREAT! your right about the distortion on high volumes. its really full! btw the guy replaced the preamps with JJ/Tesla. and the power tubes are still the original stocks. I kinda want to play around on modifying the amp... any suggestions to make the pro junior into a super amp? oh yeah been wanting to ask you for a long time, what does NOS stand for? does it mean used tubes? and celestion speakers and eminent (excuse the spelling) what are the difference, and how much do speakers cost? ~~ All I know is that celestion speakers are good for heavy distortions